Threat Of Fire Looms Over Martin Stockpile Security Lapses, Cutbacks In Emergency Staff Make Company An Easy Target

Special report

March 19, 1990|By Jim Leusner and Christopher Quinn of The Sentinel Staff

Martin Marietta Corp. says its neighbors need not worry - safety and security come first where the company makes and stores armed missiles in booming south Orange County.

During a recent tour, company officials stressed the point by citing high ratings and awards Martin has received from the defense industry and government for preventing accidents and maintaining secrecy.

FOR THE RECORD - ***************** CORRECTION PUBLISHED MARCH 22, 1990 ********************* Two captions accompanying photographs of a fence and an open fence gate in Monday's special report on Martin Marietta Corp. incorrectly indicated that they were the border for the company's Remote Area. The Martin fence, near the Bee Line Expressway, is about 130 yards from an interior fence that borders the Remote Area, where missiles are made and stored.****************************************************************************

They pointed out motion sensors and cameras designed to detect would-be saboteurs in the Remote Area, where 125 workers assemble and store missiles pending shipment to the military. And they explained how workers handling rocket motors and warheads wear special clothes to keep static electricity from sparking a fire.

With a growing number of people living, working and vacationing near the company's Remote Area, Martin's safeguards are increasingly important. Yet The Orlando Sentinel found in a yearlong investigation that the company could be an easy target for terrorists and is ill-prepared to detect and fight fires that could accidentally launch the missiles:

- Buildings where rocket motors, warheads and missiles are kept have no smoke detectors, fire detectors, automatic sprinkler systems or nearby fire hydrants because Martin says they are not needed.

- The company's full-time firefighting staff was cut back from 10 to four last fall, and its fire equipment has malfunctioned at times. Martin says, however, that its firefighting operation exceeds government standards.

- County firefighters say they are not briefed in detail about the top-secret explosive and flammable materials in the Remote Area because of national security concerns. The company says the county has been fully briefed.

- Deer hunters armed with rifles enter the Remote Area undetected and sometimes shoot and kill their prey near missile storage buildings.

- The company is using fewer guards and relying more on electronic surveillance equipment. But the company admits that some of the equipment, especially cameras, frequently breaks down.

From the parking lot of a Taco Bell in the International Drive tourist mecca that was built on land that Martin sold, you can see two of the cameras that monitor the Remote Area. If those electronic sentries turned and scanned through the trees to the south, they would see hotels, restaurants and gasoline stations, some as close as one-fourth of a mile away.

FIRE THAT WOULD NOT DIE SHOWS WHAT COULD GO WRONG

It is fire in the Remote Area - whether accidental or intentional - that poses the greatest risk to the public. According to rocket motor experts, a blaze in one of the missile storage buildings could ignite solid fuel in the weapons and launch them. Or it could cause warheads to detonate.

Martin officials are quick to point out that fire has damaged no buildings since the company began making missiles in the Remote Area 33 years ago. They also say the missiles would burn in place during a fire and that the company exceeds Defense Department requirements for fire prevention and safety.

The Defense Contract Administration Services inspects the Remote Area every three months, and every inspection report reads the same:

''The overall fire prevention program is excellent.''

However, Martin's inability to put out a fire that it started 14 months ago shows what could go wrong.

With a company fire truck and firefighters standing by in the Remote Area, an airplane fuselage was set afire as part of a test on Dec. 6, 1988. As the firefighters tried to douse the fire with flame-retardant foam, a mechanical problem on the truck turned the foam into water.

The water knocked off the foam that had been sprayed on the fuselage, and flames kicked up again, said James Goff, who oversees fire safety and security.

Martin called the Orange County Fire Department for help, and the county sent nine fire trucks and cars. But county firefighters initially refused to enter the Remote Area, knowing that some type of explosives were stored there and fearing getting too close to a fire they knew little about.

''There was a little bit of a mix-up when they came to us,'' Goff said. ''So it took a few minutes for us to get back with them.''

BUILDINGS LACK SPRINKLERS

Detecting a fire in its early stages could prove difficult in the Remote Area, 2 1/2 square miles of woods, brush and grass that become parched in Central Florida's dry seasons.

Smoke and fire detectors are used in the three buildings where workers assemble missiles. The other 82 buildings in the Remote Area - including 32 where rocket motors, warheads and completed missiles are stored - have none.

No building in the area has a fire sprinkler system.

Defense Department rules do not require smoke and fire detectors or sprinklers, but some other companies that make missiles have installed them as a precaution. Robert Keymont, Martin's vice president of production and operations, said the equipment is not needed. He said the safety record in the Remote Area is excellent and that no major fires have occurred there.